AI in Classic Science Fiction

In 1950, Alan Turing, one of the founders of computer technology, asked himself whether a machine would ever be able to think. However, it is very difficult to define what we mean by “think.” So he suggested starting with a conventional digital computer and asking the question: could it be possible, by increasing its memory capacity and speed, and by providing it with the right program, to achieve the ability to act as a human being? Here is his answer:

“I believe that the question, 'Can machines think?' is meaningless and therefore not worth discussing. Nevertheless, I am confident that by the end of this century there will have been such a change in the meaning of the words we use and in the outlook of the educated man that it will be possible to speak of thinking machines without opposition.”

In a world increasingly permeated with artificial intelligence, science fiction scenarios are becoming reality right before our eyes. Movie studios are planning to release films using ever-living digital copies of actors. People are weaving AI creations into their narratives and sharing them in literary journals. Our gadgets, browsers, and algorithms are making decisions for us, and sometimes it’s hard to tell how much of it is in our best interests and how much is being fed to us by corporate manipulation.

Many of my peers, who belong to the baby boom generation of the 80s, for obvious reasons did not have the opportunity to become addicted to high technology in the modern sense of the term from childhood. What modern teenagers have been exposed to since childhood – smartphones, smart watches, laptops, 24/7 Internet, all kinds of forms of AI – was unavailable to us. But we heard about all this, imagined it, or – as they would say now – visualized it. And most importantly, we got it all from fiction, less often – from films.

Today I would like to focus on the combination of two current areas of development of youth of my generation and the current one, namely fiction and artificial intelligence.

The two works I will touch upon are not simply about practical matters. applications artificial intelligence, but reflect the path that AI passes in the course of its evolution: from the early stages of its creation to the apogee of its own development.

The Turing Choice – Harry Harrison (science fiction novel, 1992)

In 1986, the world was introduced to the book “Community of Mind” (The Society of Mind) by hand Marvin Minskyan American scientist in the field of machine intelligence and computer science, co-founder of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In it, he considered the issues of creating artificial intelligence and the functioning of the human brain, expressing the idea of ​​the mind as a united community of simple “agents” deprived of their own mind, but performing certain functions. According to Minsky, the interaction of these “agents” underlies all mental abilities.

Harry Harrison, who knew Minsky well, was inspired by the latter's ideas and offered him the opportunity to co-author and serve as technical consultant on a new science fiction novel. Minsky agreed.

Considering the end of the century too early for Turing's prophecy to come true (it was the early 90s), the authors moved the action of their story to 2023, a time when artificial intelligence researchers work side by side with neurosurgeons.

The title of the novel, which is associated with the Turing test, recalls the famous experiment to test the ability of a computer to behave like a human or even indistinguishably from one.

A few words about the author of the novel

Harry Harrison (1925-2012) is a legendary science fiction writer. His literary success came in 1960 with his first novel, Deathworld, followed by masterpieces such as The Stainless Steel Rat, Bill the Galactic Hero, Make Room! Make Room!, the Eden trilogy, and a number of other works that have inscribed their names on the golden pages of science fiction.

Harrison was not shy about his subject matter. His literary legacy embodies humor and fantasy on one pole, and the genre of disasters and alternate history on the other. He not only mastered the humorous style, but also boldly addressed tragedy, social issues, and other aspects of fantasy, creating works that inspired and fascinated readers around the world.

The story is set in the headquarters of Megalobe Industries in the Southern California desert. A young computer prodigy, Brian Delaney, the head of a US government-funded project to create artificial intelligence, is the victim of a brutal attack on the lab where he works. During the attack, many of his colleagues are killed and his groundbreaking research in the field of AI is destroyed. However, Brian himself, who was seriously wounded in the head, is the only member of the project to survive.

The government turns to experimental neuroscientist Dr. Erin Snaresbrook to save Brian. Experimental treatments using computer implants and memory cues from family and friends have partially restored his memory – Brian regains control of his body and the memories his head injury left behind – all the way back to when he was 14.

Now Brian Delaney must recreate the artificial intelligence, while finding the perpetrators who have already tried to kill him.

The Turing Choice is a gripping work that successfully combines fantasy, science and detective fiction. And although the main characters face betrayal and secrets, the reader is given the opportunity to understand the truth surrounding what is happening on their own. The Turing Choice is not just a novel about technology, it is a fascinating immersion into the world of artificial intelligence and its capabilities, raising questions and making you think.

What technologies did the authors foresee developing in 1992:

1. HDTV – high definition television:

Megalobe was founded with one goal in mind: to catch up and, if possible, surpass the Japanese in the field of HDTV – high definition television. It started with a wide screen and scanning of more than a thousand lines.

2. Video conferences with simultaneous translation:

For a moment the image on the screen froze, the broker's lips stopped moving. This was the first reminder that Mura was actually speaking Japanese and his words were being automatically translated into English, and the computer was adjusting his facial expressions and lip movements to match the sound of the English words.

3. Smart watches:

He held his electronic memory watch up to the terminal, the word “WAIT” appeared on the screen, and a second later it was replaced by the word “FINISHED”: all the meetings scheduled for the next day were copied into the watch's memory.

4. Portable HDD and flash drives

Ben reached into his pocket and handed Brian two black plastic boxes, about the size and weight of a domino set. Brian examined them from all sides and noticed that they had connectors built into the bottom.

“Memory devices,” Ben said. “These are the GBPs I was talking about.”

Brian looked at them doubtfully.

– There could be a lot of records in those files, they've probably been accumulating for years. Is there enough memory here to fit everything?

– I hope so. I don't think you'll even need both – we took the second one just in case. Each one holds a thousand megabytes. That should be enough.

5. Modern communication standards

“First of all, everything is digital now, and fiber optics have replaced copper wire everywhere except in the most remote places. Every phone has a modem built into it, and even that's becoming obsolete. Every major city has a cellular network, and it's expanding all the time.” He tapped the receiver on his belt. “I have my own number. You can call me anywhere in the United States.

6. Email, cloud storage, online services

– There are now countless electronic mailboxes, databases and communication programs. You are a subscriber to six different databases.

– So much?

– That's not enough. This database here has scientific information, it's updated every hour. These databases have replaced technical libraries and are much faster: it usually takes less than a second to access them. This one is a mailbox, this one gets tickets for everything from baseball games to airplanes. I think we probably need one of these four.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert Heinlein (science fiction novel, 1965)

“The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” first appeared in If magazine, where it ran from December 1965 to April 1966, and was later released as a novel. It comes from a period when Heinlein was at the height of his popularity—and, some would argue, the height of his powers.

The novel was nominated for a Nebula Award in 1966 and won a Hugo Award in 1967. By then, Heinlein was recognized as one of the leading authors in science fiction, and thanks to the popularity of 1961's Stranger in Strangeland, he was known even outside the closed world of science fiction.

A few words about the author of the novel

Robert Heinlein is an American writer, screenwriter, and futurologist, one of the greatest science fiction writers who largely defined the face of modern science fiction. He is called the “dean of science fiction writers.”

Heinlein was the first professional science fiction writer in the United States and one of the first to be published in major popular publications. In the Anglo-American literary tradition, Robert Heinlein, along with Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov, is considered one of the “Big Three” science fiction writers.

Heinlein is often cited as the leading science fiction writer, producing so many excellent books on so many different subjects. If you like military adventures, you have Starship Troopers. If you want a story based on quasi-religious mysteries, you have Stranger in a Strange Land. Farming (or Boy Scout) buffs have The Sky Farmer. Theater buffs have The Double. Dragon and swordplay buffs have Glory Road. Fans of recursive and self-referential fantasy have The Number of the Beast, and so on.

The novel is set on the Moon in the late 21st century, where a penal colony has been established to produce wheat for Earth's growing and increasingly hungry population. The convicts—political dissidents and displaced persons—are left to fend for themselves, ignored by the authorities as long as they produce the necessary food, which is grown in tunnels beneath the surface using ice mined from the same tunnels. The Lunar Authority sells the colony basic utilities in exchange for the food they produce, and ships the food back to Earth via magnetic catapult. By constantly monitoring the cost of purchases, the Authority squeezes the colonists for everything they can.

This setting gave Heinlein the opportunity to create a laissez-faire society, introducing the concept of “There are no free lunches!” (TANSTAAFL, or in a good Russian translation of DARZANEBA, “There is no such thing as a free snack”) into the fiction of his time.

Heinlein's view of the political situation on Earth reflects his deep pessimism about human nature and government systems. He depicts increasingly large states becoming increasingly repressive and totalitarian in nature, and the novel's supranational council, the “Federated Nations,” exhibits all the shortcomings of modern non-national organizations.

The basis of this novel's strength is its core cast of characters. This quartet, one of Heinlein's most compelling fictional creations, is the engine that drives the story and is the main reason this book ranks among his best. We meet our first two protagonists when Manuel O'Kelly Davis (called Manny), a freelance computer technician, is called in to repair the main computer of the Authority, the organization that runs the penal colony on the moon.

Unbeknownst to the authorities, the computer, which Manny names Mike (after Mycroft Holmes from the Sherlock Holmes stories), becomes self-aware.

While stopping at a meeting on his way home, Manny meets Wyoming Knott, a radical from the lunar colony of Hong Kong. She is one of the guest speakers, along with Manny's old professor, Bernardo de la Paz. The professor points out that if the Moon continues to use its limited water resources to ship wheat to Earth, there will be starvation and collapse within a decade. Authority guards attack the meeting, and Manny and Wyo hide out at a local hotel, where the professor joins them. The two recruit Manny into their plot to overthrow the Authority and prevent the impending collapse. As they explain revolutionary tactics to Manny, he realizes that Mike would be a vital asset in any plot. So, they contact Mike, and he agrees to aid their efforts.

Heinlein fills the story with many interesting technological and scientific extrapolations. Of course, like most writers of the time, he gets some things wrong, including some rather timid extrapolations about computer and communications technology (everyone reads paper printouts, landlines have centralized switching, computers are big and centralized, sounds are recorded in analog formats, and people still use typewriters). But he does give us an interesting look at artificial intelligence, and certainly depicts the chaos that a machine could cause if its goals diverged from those of its owners. Heinlein also shows prosthetics that are so useful and advanced that Manny considers his artificial arms superior to the ones he lost.

By the way, many native English speakers note an interesting factindicating that the novel is narrated by a man with a strong Russian accent. One of the most incredible things Heinlein does to achieve this is to create a first-person narrator whose vocabulary does not include the word “the”, although all the other characters actively use such an article. The narrator's Russian-language roots are also indicated by the active use of Russian words written in Latin in the text of the novel:

I see in Luna Pravda that Luna City Council has passed on the first reading a bill to examine, license, inspect–and tax–public food vendors operating within municipal pressure. I also see there will be a mass meeting tonight to organize “Sons of Revolution” talk-talk.

or

Is a virus self-aware? Nyet. How about oyster? I doubt it. A cat? Almost certainly. A human? Don't know about you, tovarishchbut I am.

Without a doubt, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is Heinlein's greatest work. It has all the hallmarks of his most famous novels and the best of science fiction: a reliable extrapolation of technological and political trends, a well-reasoned and realistic setting, plot, and compelling characters.